$68.1 million tab (so far)
Coffee Pot Fire suppression at about $4,835 per acre
Volume 3, Number 15 - Monday, Sept. 30, 2024
Published every Monday and Thursday
Perspective
THE LAST OF EVACUATION ORDERS related to the Coffee Pot Fire east of Three Rivers, California, was lifted last Wednesday, while I was on vacation somewhere off the coast of Washington state.
I’m back and not quite in the groove yet, but thanks to a tip from attorney René Voss, I was able to find the latest report of costs associated with the firefighting effort this morning.
The number is large — $68,199,630 spent on the lightning-caused fire that started Aug. 3 and was reported 96% contained on Sept. 20 when Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks issued the final daily report for the fire.
As previously reported, the effort included work in several giant sequoia groves, including clearing vegetation and aerial firing.
But how do average folks comprehend the expense of more than $68.1 million?
Here are some ways I was able to provide some perspective:
• $68.1 million is equivalent to about 4% of the Department of Interior’s Wildland Management Budget appropriation (HERE) for 2024 (Note: I don’t mean to suggest that all costs will be charged to this appropriation).
• According to the National Interagency Fire Center (HERE), in 2022 — the latest year for which information was immediately available — federal agencies spent more than $3.5 billion to suppress fires on more than 7.5 million acres. The total was for the Forest Service and Department of Interior agencies (which includes the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management).
• I put the actual, really large numbers in my calculator and came up with an average suppression cost of $468.28 per acre in 2022. Which means that the Coffee Pot Fire suppression cost reported so far is nearly 10 times the cost of the average federal fire in 2022.
• The federal costs in 2022 were not as high as in 2021 when the average suppression cost was $615 per acre. And if you check out the NIFC chart I linked above, you’ll see that the number of fires, acreage, and suppression costs varies widely.
The story of the Coffee Pot Fire of 2024 will not be complete until we know more about its environmental impact and the suppression effort.
At least one firefighter was injured (HERE). As far as I know, there was no structure damage.
I could compare suppression costs to prescribed fire costs, or add in economic and negative health impacts from all that smoke, but I’ll leave that for another day.
And those giant sequoia groves? I’m looking forward to reports.
Wildfire, water & weather update
There’s a “minor fire risk” for the San Joaquin Valley and Sierra Nevada foothills in the coming week. Predictive Services (HERE) shows fuel very dry in the Central and Southern Sierra. The California Drought Map (HERE) shows increasing “abnormally dry” areas in the state and a few areas in “moderate drought” with a tiny area in “severe drought,” as the cycles continue.
No wildfire warning or watches in the Sierra Nevada according to the Fire Weather map HERE. The best Sierra Nevada weather forecasts are at NWS Hanford, HERE, and NWS Sacramento, HERE.
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